


XOXO, Hawkeye

by Overdressedtokill (SkyeStan)



Series: And Who the Hell is Gossip Girl, Anyway? [3]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gossip Girl AU, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 06:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyeStan/pseuds/Overdressedtokill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate Bishop wants Gossip Girl to leave her alone.  Because seriously, Clint is not that handsome and he’s her coach and just ew, why would anyone post a rumor like that on the internet? Seriously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	XOXO, Hawkeye

_Spotted: K heading to Constance early this morning, bow in tow.  We know we wouldn’t to see her in a dark alley.  Rumor has it that K’s been getting some extra training hours in with the new coach.  Whatever gets you to state, K.  Though, we can’t help but think that K’s less concerned about her record and more concerned with coach handsome-_

 

Kate Bishop furiously presses down on the “sleep” button on her iPhone, tossing it quickly into her bag.  Seriously, how does stuff like that even get out? She’d literally just walked into the school like, five minutes ago.  It’s creepy.  Creepier still are the implications about her and her freaking archery instructor, who’s like, thirty.  And lives in Brooklyn.   And is an idiot.

“You’re late, Katie-Kate,” Clint tells her, Coach Clint or Coach Barton or some bullshit title that she refuses to call him by.  Kate lets out a scoff.

“I told you not to call me that,” she replies.  Clint smirks.

“You gonna start calling me Coach?” he says, and her sneer is all he needs for an answer.  “Then Katie-Kate it is, Katie-Kate.”  Kate decides to ignore the way Clint is idiotically grinning at her, tossing her tote to the ground and unzipping her quiver.  The arrows and the bow are custom, of course, a gift from her father for winning state again next year.  He’s hoping she makes it to the Olympics.  Kate isn’t sure if she wants the same.

 

Last year’s coach for the Constance Billard Archery team had been a middle aged woman, who was good, but not great.  And for what he paid, her father had argued, Katie should be getting great.  Better than great, even.  So it was out with the old- though not without some discourse (she’d worked at Constance forever, Mr. Bishop couldn’t just throw money around and expect to get his way, etc), and in with this new instructor, who was a jackass and an idiot but the best archer Kate had ever seen in her life.  

“You gonna talk me to death, Clint?” Kate asks, already lining up her bow, “or are you gonna teach me how to shoot?”  Clint chuckles.

“You already know how to shoot,” he says-Kate punctuates this statement by firing off a quick arrow (bullseye, obviously).

“Yeah, but not like you,” she says, stringing another arrow.  “And you shoot better than I do, so-”

“Sweetie I shoot like a circus boy,” he says.  “It’s all for show.”  Kate curls her upper lip, turning on her heel to aim her arrow for Clint’s chest, fingers perched on her arrow.

“One,” Kate says, “don’t call me sweetie.  Two, for what the school’s paying you, _circus boy,_ you better be ready to teach me how to shoot blindfolded.”  She fires, the arrow neatly hitting the target behind Clint.

“Blindfolded, eh?” Clint says, stroking his chin.

“I was joking,” Kate replies.

“It’s a good idea!” Clint insists.  Kate takes a step back as he approaches, shaking her head.

“No.  Not happening.  Oh my god.  I’m going to get you fired!” Clint only laughs.

“Trust me, Katie-Kate.  You’ll thank me.”  Kate considers his statement, this morning’s Gossip Girl post still in the back of her mind.  She thinks that _Coach Handsome_ is a stupid nickname, and that Clint is a moron and there is no way in hell he is getting that blindfold on her.

 

That statement makes Kate a little tingly.

“Do you even have a blindfold?” Kate bites.  Clint pauses.

“Um.  Well,” he says, “I can go get one?”  Kate rolls her eyes, leaning to one side to reach into her bag.

“Here,” Kate says, pulling out the tie of her uniform.  “Good enough.” She’s not entirely sure why she’s helping him with this, and quite honestly he looks a little surprised that she is, especially when she offers the tie to him.  “I’m not putting it on myself,” Kate tells him, “when this whole thing was your idea.”

“My idea!” Clint asks, giving a lopsided grin, “Oh, that’s hilarious, Katie-Kate.” 

“Are you going to blindfold me or not?” Kate demands, waving the tie at him.   Clint snatches it unceremoniously from her, and the silk tie is pressed over her eyes as he ties it around her head.

 

_Coach Handsome_.That’s such a stupid nickname.  Like, he’s not actually that handsome.  He’s blond in kind of a sandy way, and he’s so full of himself, and that’s coming from a Constance Billard girl.  And he’s standing way too close to Kate as he ties the damn blindfold, to the point where she can totally see why Gossip Girl is posting this stuff.  Clint has no boundaries.  He finishes tying her blindfold and his fingers rest on the back of her neck for a beat, before Kate quickly scuffles forward.

“Are we good?” she asks, resisting the urge to rub her hand also the nape of her neck.  “Because I feel really, really stupid.”

“That’s step one of the process, Katie-Kate,” Clint says, and she hears his sneakers shuffle against the polished floors.

“What’s step two, bossman?” she asks.  The nickname tumbles out of her mouth before she can even stop it, and it’s way too clever and way too fitting and she knows Clint must be grinning at her.

“Nice nickname,” he says.  She ignores his comment and reaches for another arrow, but Clint catches her wrist.

“Try the movement first,” Clint says.  “You’d be surprised how much you forget without your sight.”  Katie lets out a “tch,” reaching for her arrow, as usual.  Her fingers found it with ease-but actually stringing it, well.  That’s proving to be a bit difficult.  She 

hears Clint snicker, right near her ear, and he’s a lot closer to her than she realized, isn’t he?

“Okay, so,” Clint says, “you clearly don’t know your bow that well.” Kate sneers.

“Was I supposed to take it out to dinner, or something?” Kate retorts.  Clint takes the bow from her hands in response.

“You’re real clever, you know that?” Kate shoots him a tight lipped smile.

“So I’ve been told.”  Clint’s pacing, she can hear the squeak of his sneakers.

“I’ll be upfront with you, Katie-Kate,” he says, “I’m not too great at all this sensei stuff.”  Kate snickers.

“You should’ve mentioned that pre-blindfold.” Kate says.  It’s kind of weird, that she and Clint are talking so much.  He’s supposed to be teaching her how to shoot like a pro.  Not do...whatever this is.  Because whatever this is-well, it’s starting to make Kate a little bit excited.  Which is gross.  So gross.  He’s like, thirty.

 

“You know how we do the blindfold trick in the circus?” Clint asks, and Kate flips her braid over her shoulder-it catches Clint across the cheek.  She thinks.  It definitely hit him.  Which is his fault, for standing so close.

“Circus magic,” Kate affirms, a smirk tugging at her lips.  Clint whacks her on the arm.  “Watch the arm, idiot,” Kate chides, “I need it to shoot.”

“Well girlie, maybe if I had a more serious answer-”

“Oh, so I’m girlie now?” Kate chides.  Clint flicks her braid across her shoulder.

“The trick is to memorize your surroundings.  Quickly.  To know your bow like it’s second nature.  You need to be able to visualize.”

“Blindfolded,” Kate deadpans.  Clint hands her back her bow.

“The blindfold was your idea,” he teases.  She lets out an indignant noise.   And she doesn’t know when their tones got so casual, when they started talking like friends instead of coach and trainee.  And maybe Clint is kind of her friend, then?  She’s certainly spent enough time with him at the range.

Except, isn’t he married? He was definitely on the phone with a woman the other day.

And ew, Kate wouldn’t be interested even if he isn’t married.

 

“Okay, so,” Kate says, gripping the handle of her bow, “this is the grip.”  She flicks the string, listening to it vibrate, “string.” She feels around with her fingers for a moment, finding the arrow rest.  She smiles.  “Okay, I think I’ve got it,” she says, reaching for an arrow.  She lines it up at the arrow rest, notches it on the string-and fires.  She hears it hit the wall.  She draws her lips into a line.

“I wasn’t even close to the target, was I,” she says.

“Nope,” Clint replies.  

“Well, maybe give me a little more guidance?” Kate asks, with an impatient huff.

 

And that’s when Clint’s hands find hers, and his chest is pressed against her back.  If Kate ever hears anyone call Clint _Coach Handsome_ again she’ll probably scream, because he smells like Old Spice and not Armani and for some reason she thinks that’s really attractive.

“So, the target is here,” Clint tells her, voice ringing in her ear, as he guides her elbow back.  And like, she’s not a child.  She can shoot a bow.  She doesn’t need freaking Coach Handsome putting his hands on her.

 

She releases the arrow at the same moment her phone beeps.

 

And then it beeps again.

 

Kate’s phone will not stop pinging, and finally, she tears off her blindfold and wiggles away from Clint, feeling a bit like her esophagus has become knotted, or something.  

 

Ping!  Ping Ping! 

 

With a huff, Kate stomps over to her bag, pulling out her phone.  Ten text messages, and a new post from  Gossip Girl.  Kate tries not to gulp, but she might have anyway, she’s kind of shaky and she’s not entirely aware of what her body is doing.  She slides her thumb over the Gossip Girl bulletin, pulling up the website.

 

_Spotted: K and her coach working on K’s archery skills.  Who knew training could get so kinky?_

Who the flying fuck had managed to get a picture of Clint blindfolding her?  How did this even happen?  Kate feels her hands shake.

“All good, Katie Kate?” Clint says, coming up behind her.  She feels his hand find her back and pins her phone to her chest.  Clint cocks his head to the side. “Kate?” It’s the first time he’s called her Kate and it could not have come at a worse time.  Kate shakes her head, striding over to the targets to gather her arrows.

“I need to get to class,” Kate says, pulling the arrows out of the targets and tossing them back into her quiver.

“It’s seven-thirty,” Clint says.  Kate whips her head to glare at him.  Where does he even get off?  Standing there and being handsome and touching her when he shouldn’t be.  He’s such an asshole.  And he’s not even that good looking.

“I want a latte,” Kate substitutes, slinging her quiver and bow over her shoulder.  Clint’s brow is furrowed in confusion as Kate strides past him, her eyes trained on the doors ahead.

“Kate!” he calls out to her, right as she’s about to leave, “You’ll be at practice this afternoon?” He’s trying to use his ‘Coach Voice,’ which works on just about everyone but Kate, who finds his tone grating and not authoritative in a totally hot way at all.

“Duh,” Kate replies, making sure to roll her eyes for good measure as she slams the door to the range behind her.

 

_Spotted: A very flustered looking K ordering a double shot espresso without her favorite coach.  What’s the matter, K?  We thought you two looked cute together._

_-You know you love me_

_xoxo,_

_Gossip Girl_


End file.
